District Commons

This is one of the two new offerings from the Passion Food Hospitality group (also known for DC Coast and the recently closed, Ten Penh.) The other new place is BTS (Burger Tap & Shake), directly next door and sharing a common kitchen and bar.

District Commons bills itself as a “classic American tavern” and has 20 beers on tap and 99 different bottles.

Like all Passion Food properties, the Commons has a raw bar. We started the night with a dozen oysters on the half shell – two varieties of east coast and their Pretzel Baguette. The baguette will run you $2 but is well worth the additional charge.

All three meals were delicious: the duck had a nice crisp skin and wasn’t at all greasy; the steak was cooked exactly to order and the grits were so incredibly creamy and the shrimp fresh and flavorful.

The desserts were the weak part of the menu. The ice creams are all house made and were extremely creamy and flavorful but uninspired. The restaurant needs to create a dessert around the ‘burnt marshmallows’ as they were fabu.

Overall, we had a great time and the food was very good. Would have no issue returning to sample more of their offerings, especially the Pig Board: artisan hams, biscuits, butter and pickled cherries. The atmosphere is urban and on the loud side but a lot of fun. They were short waitstaff so at the beginning of the night service was slow. Yet towards the end they were clearing plates almost before we were done individually and before the whole table was finished.